JEFF EDELSTEIN: Marijuana laws in NJ under Chris Christie make the Weedman see double

When it comes to New Jersey’s marijuana laws, Gov. Chris Christie is trying to have his cake and eat it too, and he’s not even stoned.

But Ed “NJWEEDMAN” Forchion? Well, yeah, he’s stoned, obviously, but it’s not stopping him from pointing out the state’s pot laws seem to be written by a “Catch-22” devotee.

In a nutshell: Marijuana is a Schedule I drug in New Jersey. Under state law, a drug is Schedule I if, among other things, it “has no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.”

Advertisement

Well, last I checked, California was part of the United States. Same with Colorado, Arizona, Maine and another 14 states where medical marijuana laws exist. Or course, since January 18, New Jersey is also one of those states that recognizes marijuana as medicine.

So the cake metaphor? It fits. New Jersey has criminal marijuana laws stating pot is the worst of the worst when it comes to drugs because it has no accepted medical value, and yet also has another law stating marijuana has oodles of accepted medical value.

Forchion has noticed this ridiculousness, and filed a legal brief in Evesham on Friday to challenge it. Why Evesham? It’s the same town where he was arrested last week for holding a pair of joints. He was a passenger in car that had a headlight out. Somehow, he got searched. This is how things go when you’re the Weedman.

So not only is he seeking to upturn the state’s laws on marijuana (again) he’s also making it easy for other marijuana offenders to do their bit to clog up the state’s judicial system. Set up at njweedman.com/challenge.pdf, and it’s a simple, printable legal brief for people who were arrested on marijuana charges since the state’s medical marijuana law went into effect. Basically, print it, fill it out, file it, and have your lawyer tell the judge and prosecutor possession of marijuana cannot be a Schedule I offense because according to state law it’s not a Schedule 1 offense. Cheech and Chong couldn’t have argued it better.

“I’m not even getting mad at this,” Forchion told me. “I just want people all over the state filing these arguments. I’m also preparing another brief for people who were arrested on marijuana charges in the last five years, even if they were convicted. It’s so simple, so I’m putting it out there for others to fill out their names and argue the same thing.”

Forchion noted this legal gambit of his is really no different than the ones he’s been running forever.

“These are the same arguments I’ve had for years, but public opinion and laws have caught up to me,” he noted.

Forchion would be happy with one of two events happening here: Either the state gets it together and takes marijuana off the Schedule I list, or the state recognizes medical marijuana card holders from other states.

As for the first one, there’s language in the state’s laws allowing the director of Human Services to simply make the change. Unfortunately, the director works at the pleasure of the governor, and there is no way Christie is going to let the change be made willingly. Christie doesn’t exactly seem to be too keen on the whole medical marijuana thing anyway, as he’s seen fit to make acquiring the “drug” costly, time-consuming and almost impossible.

As for the second option, well, common sense should apply here.

“If I get a prescription for Levitra in California, do I need a prescription for Levitra in New Jersey?” Forchion said.

Obviously, the answer is “no,” as men with erectile dysfunction do not fear jail time for transporting their medicine across state lines. But medical marijuana users currently have that fear in New Jersey.

There is a third option, one that Forchion kind of hopes doesn’t happen: Outright dismissal of his charges. Sure, he’d get off without even a slap on the wrist, but the laws would stay the same and other marijuana users — both medicinal and recreational — would continue to get jacked up by the current statutes, which, again, MAKE NO SENSE.

Sorry for hollering there, but come on: Marijuana, under the current language of the law, should be, at worst, a Schedule V drug with the less severe penalties for use.

“All other states either have a medical exemption or have rewritten the laws,” said Forchion. “Except New Jersey. New Jersey is trying to have it both ways.”